Premier Cru customer statistics

WINE TALK
21

I don’t think that’s actually the decision node though. Maybe for some, but I highly doubt anybody buys from PC because they’ll hold onto your wine (voluntarily or involuntarily on your part) for several years. The decision is between paying more, sometimes significantly more, to have the peace of mind of receiving your wine immediately from another retailer, or paying significantly less and accepting the risk of longer delivery times.

I think the “I’d rather just pay more and get my wine now” sentiment is great if your disposable income allows you to do so (not saying that this is what you’re insinuating). If the difference in price of a few hundred dollars on a case of wine means nothing to someone, then that’s awesome. I have a tighter wine budget and sometimes I can only grab a few bottles here and there and PC gives me access to stuff that I normally wouldn’t consider.

22

I think delivery statistics would be interesting. I think there’s already a thread to debate the general merits and business model of Premier Cru.

23

[scratch.gif]

Can you prove this?

I’ll take the extreme case here, as Howard admitted he’s waiting on RC and LT 2009. It’s 2015, he paid in 2012. What if he doesn’t have his wine in say, 2017? That’s a full 5 years. Any how many other people didn’t get there wine too?

24

I’m calling bullshit on this post. How could they say they were too busy if they never answered the phone?

25

A lot of this seems to belong in the other thread (I don’t think this one was intended to make up for the fact that no one is reading the re-re-reiterations there any more), but here’s another set of data points:

I pulled my own numbers. For these purposes, I counted things shown as ready to ship as well as what I’ve actually had delivered out.

Pre-2011: All delivered, except one case where they told me their source had fallen through and offered to try to source it elsewhere or give a refund.
2011: 143/155 (92.7%)
2012: 48/93 (51.6%)
2013: 36/78 (46.2%)
2014: 0%

26

You don’t think they source in the secondary markets?

27

The issue is that you’ve described the exact kind of consumer who shouldn’t be purchasing from PC. Some gigantic collector with a diversified set of stores he buys from and a Chubb policy, sure, they can take on some PC risk. An ordinary collector sinking a substantial portion of his wine budget into PC with nothing but the questionably-enforceable-at-best credit card insurance policy to back him up? That’s a heck of a lot more risk than I would take.

28

Premier Cru buys wine from distributors and/or importers, which means the wine has been stored on pallets in a warehouse somewhere. In most cases, the wine has been there its entire time since leaving the winery (until its path to PC begins). So leaving your wine in a store for several years is a different kettle of fish.[/quote]

They buy quite a bit at auction to cover their shortages.
They also buy quite a bit from other retailers here in the States.

29

I posted this in the other thread, but I’ll add my recently updated delivered % here too (and update at the end of 2015):
2015 13.0%
2014 56.7%
2013 85.6%
2012 96.8%
2011 95.1%
2010 100%
2009 100%
2008 100%
2007 100%
2006 100%
2005 100%
2004 100%
2003 100%
All Time 93.0%

30

I was a happy customer for PC for many years. FYI, it takes maximum three months to purchase from the source/deliver to Hillebrand/attach back label/ship/clear through US customs and deliver to you. It can be as quick as two weeks if you have a container worth to import. Also the prices are relatively transparent, ie there is no way to get those crazy cheap prices.

31

Another way to have additional cash flow.

I.e. Rob peter to pay paul

32

Merge?

33

Is this just speculation? I don’t recall any bottles I’ve had from PC with auction house labels.

34

I think if some posters stopped responding to this thread in the same vein as the other thread, this thread could provide some useful objective data points for people to assess their own risk.

Telling people who should and shouldn’t be buying from PC to me is useless.

35

To be fair, proclaiming when the “decision node” for PC purchases should be is equally useless.

36

Labels aren’t required for wines auctioned in Illinois (read HDH)…and of course it’s just a sticker…they can easily remove those.

37

To be fair, proclaiming when the “decision node” for PC purchases should be is equally useless.[/quote]

I was clarifying that I don’t think anybody buys from PC because they provide free storage and that I certainly don’t. I’m not really sure why you’re contributing to this thread as your posts (in this thread) have been about telling other people what you would do when nobody asked.

38

It’s a lot of work to remove that many stickers, plus I’ve received case quantities in Domaine packed boxes.

But that’s not really pertinent to this thread either.

39

I was clarifying that I don’t think anybody buys from PC because they provide free storage and that I certainly don’t. I’m not really sure why you’re contributing to this thread as your posts (in this thread) have been about telling other people what you would do when nobody asked.[/quote]

My concern has always been that folks with big outstandings tend to be a strong voice in favor of purchasing from PC, and it’s important both sides of the argument are presented.

40

My concern has always been that folks with big outstandings tend to be a strong voice in favor of purchasing from PC, and it’s important both sides of the argument are presented.[/quote]

Hmmm… I don’t think I’ve heard that but fair enough. I’m counting up my outstandings but I never bought that much from them so I don’t think I have that much outstanding. I buy mostly Burgundy from them and they are reasonably quick about delivering those relative to Bordeaux/Italy.